The Dictionary of Lost Words, Stage Adaptation

by Pip Williams, Verity Laughton

The box office smash hit stage adaptation by Verity Laughton of the international bestselling novel The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
In 1901, the word 'bondmaid' was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.
Set when the women's suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. It's a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape the world and our experience of it.

116 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 31, 2024

About the author

Pip was born in London, grew up in Sydney and now calls the Adelaide Hills home. She is co-author of the book Time Bomb: Work Rest and Play in Australia Today (New South Press, 2012) and in 2017 she wrote One Italian Summer, a memoir of her family’s travels in search of the good life, which was published with Affirm Press to wide acclaim. Pip has also published travel articles, book reviews, flash fiction and poetry.

Reviews

[Sundeep Mallya · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful piece of historical fiction woven around the publication of the Oxford English Dictionary from the point of view of one of the staff (Esme) on the team proofing the words that go in. It brings to light how the inclusion of words was influenced by men and how words that were in use by commoners and women were left out.